The Boulder Creek real estate market, in the midst of the hard-hit Santa Cruz County real estate market, started to show some tentative signs of improvement as the nationwide economy seems to be recovering. According to a May 22, 2010 article in the Santa Cruz Sentinel, “The county added 2,000 jobs in April, cutting unemployment from 15.2 percent to 13.5 percent, the state Employment Development Department said Friday, but job growth was less than usual for this time of year. The local jobless rate is higher than California’s, which is 12.3 percent, and the nation’s, 9.5 percent.” The piece by Jondi Gumz went on to say that “The overall number of jobs in the county has been growing steadily, albeit slowly, since January, when the count was 90,000. ‘Couple that with other data, the economic news is hopeful,’ said Bill Tysseling of the Santa Cruz Chamber of Commerce. ‘Ag, health and consumer essentials have been less affected by the recession and are improving gradually. Non-essential retail and tourism will require increased consumer confidence and/or increased employment.’”

The average price of a Boulder Creek home for sale increased along with the rest of Santa Cruz County in the month of April. According to a May 24, 2010 article from the Mercury News, “Santa Cruz County saw fewer single-family homes sold in April compared to a year ago, but the median price rebounded from $420,000 to $553,000, the highest in 20 months, as distress sales dipped.” The piece, also written by Jondi Gumz, continued to say that “There were 121 sales in April, with 43 percent selling for under $500,000, compared to a year ago, when 132 homes sold with 57 percent under $500,000, according to Gary Gangnes of Real Options Realty, who tracks the numbers.”

However, the foreclosure rate in the Boulder Creek real estate market and in the rest of the state has been enough to encourage lawmakers to adopt special corrective measures. According to a June 3, 2010 article from the Associated Press, “California homeowners seeking loan modifications would be better protected against foreclosures under a bill that passed the state Senate on Thursday.”

The Granite Bay real estate market, a small portion of the Sacramento housing market, trended upwards in the most recent tracking period available. According to a May 21, 2010 article from the Sacramento Bee, “More people bought pricier houses in April, signaling the end of Sacramento’s bargain basement-only sales scene. Buyers picked up the pace from last year in Granite Bay, El Dorado Hills and older neighborhoods near downtown Sacramento, researcher MDA DataQuick reported Thursday.” The piece by Jim Wasserman went on to note that “There are fewer available repos after a long blowout sale, market trackers say. There’s also a sense at the higher end that this market is as good as it’s going to get for a while. ‘Sellers are becoming more realistic (about) what they can get,’ said Tim Collom, a Sacramento real estate agent who specializes in east Sacramento, Land Park and Curtis Park.”

The average price of a Granite Bay home for sale rallied slightly in the month of April, according to a May 24, 2010 article from the Sacramento Business Journal. This piece noted that “Sacramento-area home prices are climbing off the mat, increasing 12.4 percent from the bottom reached in April 2009, according to a report released Monday.” The article, composed by Ron Trujillo, went on to say that “The four-county region – arguably one of the hardest hit, with an abundance of foreclosures and 35 percent-plus home price declines – had a median-home price of $188,100 in April, compared to the so-called ‘trough’ price of $167,340 a year ago, according to the California Association of Realtors…Fair Oaks, Galt, North Highlands, Orangevale and Sacramento all reported solid gains in price last month, compared to April 2009.”

The number of homes sold in the Granite Hills and Sacramento housing markets decreased slightly compared to last year, according to a May 20, 2010 article from the Sacramento Business Journal. The piece by Michael Shaw continued to say that “Home sales in the four-county Sacramento region were slightly lower in April than the same month last year, according to figures released Thursday from real estate information company MDA DataQuick.”

Cape Cod
A notoriously high-priced and exclusive market, the Cape Cod, Massachusetts, real estate area has nonetheless found itself it down as of late. Brought about by the U.S. financial crisis, which has spread around the world, Cape Cod’s markets have suffered too, seeing home values decline, inventory rise and foreclosures up.

The year 2009 seems to be a turning point year though, as the Cape Cod real estate market tries to drag itself out of the mud. During the greater part of 2009, Cape Cod showed a marked increase in sales volume, though prices were still far off their highs.

According to a local Kinlin Grover Real Estate report, during the greater part of 2009, the average price of a home sold in Cape Cod was $381,700, down quite a bit from 2008′s average of $465,900. Homes were also spending more time on the market — an average of 184 days, up from 157 in the previous year — though the number of listings was down. Real estate in Cape Cod varies greatly, with average sale prices ranging from $1.67 million in Hyannis Port down to $179,700 in Hyannis.

The high-end market of homes for sale in Cape Cod has not been immune to any of this activity. The average price of a high-end home in 2009 was $1.75 million, down from $1.83 million, and homes were spending extensively longer on the market: 316 days in 2009, up from 208 days in 2008. The number of homes listed for sale remained virtually unchanged from the previous year.